The Daughter of Hermes
by the-stars-are-shining
Summary: Charlotte thought she was going to be able to have a normal summer, even after her best friend Toni mysteriously disappeared earlier in the year. But after being attack by a massive hellhound, she is wisked off to Camp Half Blood.
1. Chapter 1

Tourist season starts to go into full swing in June in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. That's when the weather heats up enough for bikini season to be in and schools to let out for summer break. Charlotte could barely focus on her math final as the day drew to a close, only a little bit until she wouldn't have to worry about homework and grades. Not that she could focus much anyways; she'd forgotten to take her ADHD pill this morning and her dyslexia certainly wasn't helping either. But nonetheless, she finished the last question just as her teacher called for everyone to put their pencils down.

"At this point," Charlotte thought with a little smile and a sigh "Toni would have thrown his test and jumped out the window,".

Toni was her best friend. Star of their school's soccer team, class clown, and former military brat he had been friends with Charlotte since the beginning of 6th grade, when he gave her his milk carton after a bully exploded hers. He mysteriously disappeared in January during winter break, not telling anyone where he went. It was lonely without him around. She had other friends, of course, but it wasn't the same without her Toni.

The bus ride home was longer than usual, due to the insane traffic from incoming tourists, looking to spend a week or two in her little beach town. This and the insane heat made the other kids on the bus more restless than usual, throwing just about anything they could lift (food, dirty gym clothes, the occasional condom, etc.), leaving Charlotte plastered against the window trying to avoid being hit by the projectiles. She hopped off the bus when it reached her home and as the bus drove away a tuna sandwich splattered against the back window.

Home was an inn that her mother owned and ran, "The Sea Glass" it was called. It was one of more popular non-chain places in the city, and upon walking into the lobby it was apparent why. The lobby was the front room of the house that was converted to be a check-in desk and social place. A large bay window overlooked the boardwalk and let in a copious amount of sunlight. At the check-in desk was her mother's new assistant, Loretta, flipping through the latest edition of US Weekly.

"Hi Loretta," Charlotte chirped, slinging off her backpack.

"Hey hon," She looked up from an article on Bradjelina, smiling. She was in her early twenties, as many summer assistants and workers in Rehoboth were. They would come and work for the summer and then go back home for school in the fall.

"Your mom is in the kitchen stocking shelves, might wanna go help her before she falls again,". Charlotte smiled, nodded and walked to the back of the kitchen was decorated in the retro, kitschy her mother was fond of; complete with the rounded fridge and the cherry-printed curtains on the window. Her mother was on a teetering stool, trying to put cans of chickpeas on the top self of the pantry.

"Mom! Careful!" Charlotte exclaimed, rushing to steady the stool.

"Oh, hi honey I didn't hear you come in," Her mother said "How was the last day?"

"Fine I guess, lunch wasn't too bad-tasting and the finals weren't terrible but-"

"But you miss Toni," her mother finished. She knew her daughter well, which became apparent when Charlotte gave a weak smile.

"Well, I'm sure you'll hear from him eventually. You two were quite the pair, coming home all sandy from soccer on the beach,"

"Ooh, speaking of which mom; the guys want me to come play with them in a bit, is that ok?"

"Yea, it's fine. Just be careful of all the batty tourists, especially mine!" Her mom called, "And be back before dinner please!"

"Will do, thanks mom!" Charlotte yelled, racing up the back stairs to her bedroom, which was separated from the rented rooms in the house.

The walls were a pastel pink with classic rock band posters covering sections and fairy lights were strung up near the ceiling. Her closet was neatly arranged by clothing type, but she had papers littered all over her floor. She stripped out of her school clothes and into a purple one-piece suit with cut-off shorts thrown on over it, running out the door to the beach. The guys had already started when she arrived, trying to keep their intense game out of the way of the tourists (who were eyeing them warily).

"Char!" one of them cried out, kicking the ball to her. She bumped it off of her chest and ran to join them in their game.

She had always been fast, being able to weave in and out of crowd in no time flat, changing her footing on a dime, things that are useful in sports. Toni was the one who introduced her to soccer, and she'd been playing ever since. The boys adopted her as one of their own, continuing to play with her even after Toni left. She was able to play just as well as any of the school's team players, diving and head-butting to make a play. After a couple of games, Charlotte noticed the sun starting to set, meaning that she should head home soon. She vaguely remembered a day where she had hung back with Toni, sitting in a life guarding chair with him while eating her mom's taffy. The sky had been the same color and her favorite flavor; strawberry. The sky was that color now, she sighed, wishing he could come back.

"Wow that's a huge dog!" she head one of the guys exclaimed. "Hey there buddy, come here,"

She snapped out of her daydream and followed their gazes to see a giant black dog near the lifeguard chair. But it wasn't really a dog, she could sense that much. It was too huge to be a dog, and drool isn't red.

'That'd better be ketchup,' she thought as the dog locked eyes with her. A severe chill went up her spine and the dog let out a low growl that made her heart stop. Before she could react it started charging at her at full speed, red drool splattering on anyone behind it.

Charlotte couldn't run, she couldn't react at all, for the first time in her life her speed failed her. The creature charged towards her letting out an other-worldly howl as it closed in, and she did the only thing she could think of: she kicked the soccer ball at it.

It hit the dog with enough force to startle it for a second to slow it down, and she heard everyone around her gasp. Taking a quick look at her friends, she saw that they were standing a good enough distance away that they wouldn't get hurt. She didn't blame them, this thing was scary.

Suddenly she heard one of her friends scream something at her, and she whipped back around to face the dog. As she made eye contact, the dog had jumped on top of her, knocking her to the ground. It sunk it's razor-sharp teeth into her thigh and she finally reacted in the only way she could; screaming. Her leg felt like it was on fire, and she could see steam coming off of it. Her friends tried to pull the beast off of her, but it was too strong, too focused. She could see it in it's eyes, it's glowing red eyes, it wanted to kill her.

It finally pulled it's teeth out of her thigh and started to aim for her face. She could smell it's foul breath, laced which reeked of rotting corpses and blood. It was just about to clamp down on her head when it shifted and yelped. It had been knocked off of her. She looked around to see which of her friends had managed to save her, but they all just stared wide-eyed at the same person.

A guy stood to the side of her, with tanned skin and a mop of black shaggy hair that was pulled back into a little ponytail. He wore an orange shirt and a pair of cargo shorts and wielded one of the biggest swords Charlotte had ever seen.

"Toni?" she called out weakly to her savior. He smiled and gave a little wave, before jumping over her and plunging a sword into the "dog", which promptly turned to dust.

She felt a wave of relief sweep over her and she let her body relax in the damp sand below her. Then all at once, her senses came back to her. She could smell the overwhelming scent of blood surrounding her, she could feel the liquid gushing from her thigh. She brought her blood-stained hand to her face and felt her vision grow fuzzy, realizing all the had just happened to her. Toni stood above her, calling for help, as she blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlotte woke up with a start a few hours later in her bedroom, the strings of lights she hung on her ceiling glowing softly above her.

"She's waking up!" she heard someone exclaim, tightening a grip on her hand. She fluttered her eyes open to see a tanned boy with shaggy black hair staring back at her. He was more muscular than the last time she had seen him, but his warm brown eyes were still the same.

"Toni," she croaked, making him smile.

"Hey Char, how're you feeling?" he said softly, stroking her hand a little. She had forgotten how huge his hands were in comparison to her's.

"What happened?" she asked, feeling her head start to pound and her leg start to throb.

"You were attacked by a Hellhound," he explained, "Nasty creatures,"

"A what?"

"Hellhound. You learned about them in English last year, remember telling me about all the Greek mythology stuff?" She did remember, but how could it be true? It was just a myth, right?

"Hey honey," Charlotte heard her mom call from her doorway, she was carrying a mug to her bedside. "I brought you something that will help you feel better, Toni brought it from his new home,". She took the mug and sipped the liquid, which tasted like liquid sugar cookies. She instantly tried to down the whole cup, but Toni snatched it from her before she could have more than half.

"Uh-huh," he warned, "Too much nectar isn't a good thing," Charlotte tried to snatch the mug back, thinking he was just joking around, but his brow furrowed in annoyance. "Seriously Char, too much nectar, and you'll be incinerated," she stopped trying to grab, not wanting to be turned to toast.

"So what happened after the supposed Hellhound?" she asked, still eyeing the mug of nectar.

"It's not supposed, it's real. You saw it with your own eyes," Toni said in a controlled tone.

"It could have been just an oversized dog-"

"It was a Hellhound honey, believe me," Her mother chipped in, "It was real and it will hurt you, or even kill you if you aren't careful,"

"What?" Charlotte couldn't believe her ears, mom knew about these things too?

" I've kept some secrets from you. . . About who you are. . . . And about who your father is," Her mother started, sitting down beside her daughter on the bed. "Your father was not mortal, he was. . . Well, a god,"

"Like you worshipped him and stuff?"

"No honey, like Greek mythology, the Olympians and all that,"

"You told me dad died in a car crash!" Charlotte accused. She was angry at her mom for not telling the truth, angry for the secrets. How could her own mother lie to her about something this big when she couldn't even go a day without telling Charlotte what she ate for every meal?

"Gods can't stay with their partners and their children, Char," Toni took over, pulling a necklace from underneath his collar. It had a single bead on it, emblazoned with the symbol of Ares, a boar.

"My dad is also a god, the god of war. I found this out in January, when I left you," She studied the necklace, which was a leather chord with the glass bead.

"So what would that make us?" she asked tentatively.

"Demigods, like Hercules and Perseus. You remember learning about them," Toni grabbed his friend's hands and looked her straight in her steely grey eyes, " You must also remember all the monsters that would try to kill them. They exist too, you met that Hellhound today, well there are thousands more just waiting for the opportunity to kill you. There's a camp up in New York, where you won't be harmed. You can spend the summer there with me, it'll be fun, I promise,".

Charlotte looked back at her mother, who nodded with approval. She knew that this camp was best for he daughter. "You'll be safer there honey, go on. It'll be just like sleep away camp-"

"Except we get to play with weapons and stuff," Toni laughed, making Charlotte crack a smile.

"I'll pack my bag, give me a little bit,"

With her mom and Toni out of the room, she gave herself time to absorb what she was told. She had always been able to see weird creatures like that hellhound, but she dismissed them as her eyes playing tricks on her. And her mother lying to her about her dad? Not only was her dad alive, but he was immortal. Thats kind of a big thing. Not the kind of secret you want to hear after fifteen years of believing that he was dead. She'd have to forgive her though, eventually.

Within a half-hour , she had packed all she would need for the rest of the summer. A few shirts, jeans and cut-offs, a pair of worn-in sneakers, her swimsuit, and a container filled with her mother's taffy. As she walked into the back yard, she could hear the nightlife of Rehoboth. People walking around the boardwalk, food sizzling on grills, and the arcade noise from the play place down the street. She followed Toni to a chariot hidden in plain sight, with winged horses hooked up to it.

"Peagsi, no freakin' way!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Way, a woman said from inside the chariot, holding a copy of US Weekly.

"You!" Charlotte nearly dropped her pack after seeing Loretta in the front seat

"Loretta was watching to make sure you didn't get into trouble, she works for the camp,"  
>Toni explained.<p>

"I'll get her there in one piece and get her back by breakfast Eleanor!" Loretta called to Charlotte's mom as they started to load into the chariot. Charlotte took a second to face her mother though.

"Be good honey, and have fun," her mother said, getting a little misty-eyed.

"I will, and be careful please," she said back, trying not to cry herself. It would be her first time away from her mom for this long.

"Go on now, I love you," Her mom gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek and lightly pushed her towards her ride. The horse whinnied as Charlotte stepped into the cart and they immediately started to take off.

"I love you too mom, I'll talk to you soon!" she called before they ascended into the sky, high above the Inn, then the boardwalk, then the city, until everything was just little dots of colors.

"Well," Toni said, "Here we go, off to Camp Half Blood,"

"Where is that?" Charlotte asked, curling up to her long-absent best friend. He smiled and pointed north-east

"Long Island"


	3. Chapter 3

The chariot reached the camp around 2 hours later, which was a lot faster than driving would have been. Most of Long Island was sleeping, and the lights down below were dimmed except for a few bigger towns. Camp Half Blood was further away from the cities, past a big forest that laid by the sea. The pegasi landed by an area that Charlotte presumed was the stables, judging by the smell. Everyone piled out of the chariot and Loretta went to put the creatures away for the night. Toni escorted Charlotte to a long line of cabins on the other side of the camp.

"First, we're going to take you to the Big House and talk to Chiron. Don't worry, he's a nice guy. Then we'll set you up in a cabin and make you feel at home here," He reassured her, leading her up the stairs of a weathered barn.

He knocked on the door a few times and a man groggily answered after a few minutes.

Scratch that. Not a man.

A horse-man with curlers in his tail.

"T-Toni? What are you doing up at this hour? Why do you-" he stopped short when he saw Charlotte standing timidly behind the boy "Oh"

"Chiron, this is Charlotte. An old friend of mine who was attacked by a hellhound today,"

"Hi," she managed to squeak out

"Well, that has to be quite a scare, any damage?" the centaur asked, examining the tiny girl.

"Nothing some nectar couldn't fix, she's just still a little dazed about what happened is all," Toni said, putting his hand on her shoulder supportively.

"Has she been claimed?"

"See, thats the problem, she hasn't," Chiron's face fell at these words, Charlotte wondered what that could have meant but before she could ask, Toni spoke again. "I'm taking her to the Hermes cabin with the others, and maybe we'll find out in a few days or so,"

"Very well. Charlotte, you're in goods hands here. You'll be safe as long as you stay in camp boundaries. You'll have to excuse me I'm quite exhausted, I'll leave Toni to explain things to you, he's one of our top campers, goodnight". He shut the door, leaving a beaming Toni and a confused Charlotte.

"You hear that? I'm top camper!" Toni grinned, making Charlotte smile back at seeing him to happy. "Now lets take you to a cabin so you can get some rest, i'll tell you all about this place on the way,"

* * *

><p>". . .And thats basically how demigods are created," Toni explained to Charlotte "Gods and Goddesses and unfaithful and bored and cure it by getting busy with mortals like our moms," Charlotte made a face at him, not wanting to think about her mom 'getting busy' with anyone.<p>

They were walking to the row of cabins Toni had showed her before, which were quite interesting. Two rows of five with two at the end that faced towards the others. Every cabin was decorated differently, with some looking well lived in and some looking like they had been vacant for years.

"These are where we all sleep, each cabin belongs to a different god or goddess, with all of their children inside," Toni motioned to a rather angry-looking cabin that was painted a bloody red and had a boar's head mounted on the doorway. "Thats the Ares cabin, where I live, it looks pretty beat up, but it's home"

"And that one over there is the Aphrodite cabin, and over there is Athena's, and the ones at the end belong to Zeus and Hera but neither have had any children since World War II, they kinda swore on it. Poseidon did the same," Charlotte was about to question how gods and World War II had anything to do with one another but she decided against it.

"And here is your new home for the time being, the Hermes cabin!" Toni showed her a beat-up looking cabin with peeling white paint and a caduceus above the door.

"Wait, before I go Toni," Charlotte stopped her friend before he could walk her any closer to it. He turned around and she looked up at him. "What does being claimed mean?"

"When you're claimed it means that your godly- parent recognizes you as their child. Sometimes it happens within an instant and sometimes not at all," He looked over to the Hermes cabin sadly. "Since Hermes is the god of travelers, his cabin shelters all of the kids that haven't been claimed so there will be loads like you- but i'm sure you'll be claimed any day now!" he added, seeing her grow sad at the thought of not being claimed.

"Maybe," she said quietly.

Toni swept her up into a big bear hug, picking her up off the ground and spun her around, earning a little laugh out of her.

"Well everyone here will love you no matter if you're claimed or not Char," she smiled a little more and gave her old friend a hug.

The porch light flickered on at the Hermes cabin and a tall blonde boy wandered out into the brisk night, trying to see who was making noise.

"Toni, go to bed man, the harpies are going to find you and peck at you," The boy said sleepily.

"I will soon, just bringing you a new camper. Meet Charlotte," Charlotte gave a shy wave at the boy, who cracked a smile.

"Hey there, welcome in! The more the merrier, I'm Luke by the way,"

"Hi," she said quietly, he had a scar over one of his yes but was still quite attractive. Charlotte was easily intimidated by cute boys.

"Take good care of her, she's an old friend of mine," Toni said, as the two walked up the porch of the cabin.

"Anything for Toni here," Luke said, as the two did a quick bro-hug "Now go to bed, we've got to show Charlotte here the ropes tomorrow,"

"Alight then, goodnight baby Char!" Toni called, hurrying back to his own cabin.

Luke escorted her into the cabin, motioning for her to be silent and to not wake anyone up. The bunk beds were full as was the floor. Kids everywhere! It really was a refugee cabin for unclaimed demigods, either that or Hermes was a busy guy.

"Watch your step, here you can take my bed tonight you look like you need a good rest," Luke whispered, hoisting her up to a top bunk with ease (making her face turn bright red). "Keep that backpack of yours close too, Hermes is also the god of thieves, I'll wake you up in the morning and will help you around tomorrow,"

"Thank you so much," She whispered to the blonde boy, he just smiled and ruffled her hair a little.

"Anything for a friend of Toni's, now get some rest," He said, moving to another spot in the room that Charlotte couldn't make out in the darkness. She settled down in the bed, which was surprisingly comfy and started to drift off to sleep.

Days like this reminded her of how ones life could change in an instant, and hers was bound to keep changing from now on.


	4. Chapter 4

Charlotte awoke the next morning to chaos. Twenty demigods running around the cabin trying to get ready for the day. Some were yelling across the room to their friends about where their shoe was, some were struggling to make their beds, and some (like Charlotte) were waking up in the middle of this. She let out a little groan and snuggled back under the blankets until someone ruffled her hair.

"Oh no you don't kid, you're gonna miss breakfast if you do that," A deep voice chuckled. She saw Luke standing at the side of the bunk, and suddenly she remembered that she was sleeping in his bed.

"Here, I got you some stuff at the camp store. You don't have a camp shirt yet," He handed her an orange shirt, like the one Toni was wearing. On the front was a black pegasus with 'Camp Half-Blood' written in a vaguely Greek script. "Now you're an official member! Now hurry up, breakfast is in ten minutes,".

Charlotte dragged herself out of bed, and fixed the sheets and blankets to look presentable. She shoved her bag in a corner of the room and changed into her new T-shirt, throwing a hoodie over it to counter the cold morning air. She looked around and noticed how the kids were starting to line up, seemingly in age order. She moved towards the middle of the line, but was promptly moved to the very back. Apparently it was seniority and not age.

They shuffled out the cabin, Luke in the lead, out to the pavilion for breakfast. There were twelve tables in all, one for each cabin. Some remained completely empty and others, like the Hermes cabin, we're completely full. It was good that Charlotte was tiny, because there was not much room at all. She looked over the Ares' table where Toni was sitting and joking with his house mates. They all seemed so happy together, and all she could do was wonder where she belonged.

Some water spirits, or Naiads as Luke called them, brought out plates of fruits and toast and cereals for breakfast. Everything looked so fresh and wonderful that Charlotte finally realized that she hadn't eaten since noon yesterday, and her stomach set off like an alarm. She piled her plate high with food and was about to dig in until Luke stopped her.

"Nope, not yet. You have to throw some of it into that fire over there. An offering to the gods," he pointed to a large fire where kids were lined up and were throwing various things into it.

She followed Luke and the other members of cabin eleven to the fire, and when it was her turn she took a moment to say a little something to whomever her father was.

'Uh, hey dad it's me. Charlotte. Actually, I don't even know if you know who I am. But here I am,' She felt slightly stupid praying to a fire. 'Look, I've just found out a lot of things that I never knew about myself and I'm kind of confused right now. If you can hear me, please send me some sign that you're there,'. She threw an apple into the fire and smoke instantly flew up into the sky. She hoped that was a good thing.

She sat down next to Luke again, who she realized she was kind of latching on to. Not that he seemed to mind. She was certainly calmer than the majority of the cabin. They picked at their plates in silence, until a camper with curly brown hair and mischievous grey eyes turned his attention towards her.

"Hey, new girl, how'd you wind up here anyway?" she blushed. She wasn't fond of attention.

"Um, I was playing soccer with my friends and a hell hound attacked me," bunch of the campers started paying attention and made sounds of fear.

"Thats scary, what happened?" the camper asked.

"Um, well, I kind of threw a soccer ball at it. And then it bit me," the campers started laughing, making her blush harder.

"Thats so dumb, like a soccer ball is going to stop Hades' dogs," the camper laughed hardest of all.

"Be nice Conner," Luke warned, "At least she did something, I heard you ran away from a Kindly One with your brother when you were found," The laughter turned to Conner, who blushed and retreated a little. "Speaking of which, where is your brother?".

"Um," Before he could answer Luke an explosion came from the strawberry gardens and the other adult (who Charlotte later found out was Mr. D, or Dionysus the god of wine) let out a thundering yell.

"STOLL!" The campers in the pavilion started to snicker and 'ooooh' at the brother.

A boy who looked very much like Conner stumbled up the hill, covered in juice and strawberry husks. He smiled at his brother, who smiled back.

"Travis Stoll, I command yo to shovel the stables for the rest of the week!" Mr. D screamed, making his smile fade within a matter of seconds.

"Aw come on, I just wanted to try your fruits. I was really doing you a favor-"

"I don't want to hear another word. Go. Now! And the rest of you," the god turned to the pavilion, who stopped laughing and held their breath. "Go do whatever it is you do all the blasted day!"

The kids scrambled away, off to do their daily activities and before Charlotte could figure out where she was supposed to be, she ran into Toni.

"There you are! Come with me, we can hang out for a little bit and catch up," she followed him to the Ares cabin porch, where they sat down on the stairs.

"So I bet you're wondering what happened to me in January," he said, sounding kind of guilty.

"Whatever happened, it's ok-"

"Its not though, I left my best friend without saying goodbye," he took a deep breath before continuing "Look, I left because one night after Christmas my mom and I were sleeping when suddenly we were under attack,"

"It was a Telkehine, which are really nasty creatures, and it was in my room. It was about to eat me in my sleep when my mom shot it with her pistol and distracted it," Charlotte remembered Toni's mom. She was a woman no one could mess with. Well, except Toni. She liked Charlotte and regarded her as her own daughter.

"We couldn't kill the creature but we got away just in time. We got into the car and immediately drove up here to Camp Half-Blood. She explained to me on the way, and told me how she met my dad. Before I knew it, I was here. I went to school on Long Island, where my mom moved to as well," He looked at his friend with pain in his eyes.

"I wanted to tell you everything that had happened, I really do. But being a demigod is a big secret and the camp wouldn't let me. Besides, our kind can't use cell phones and computers and stuff because it attracts monsters. And after being at camp for a while, I realized that you might be a demigod too, which is why I finally came back,"

"What made you think I was a demigod?"

"Well, I mean you had dyslexia and ADHD like me, and you are quicker than any human i've ever played soccer with. The more I was at camp with my own kind, the more I realized that everyone there reminded me of you," she was flattered at the thought, and it gave her a little more hope about fitting in.

"But how did you know who your dad was?" Toni smiled at that.

"It was during one of the training activities here at camp, I was practicing sword fighting with the Ares cabin and got a little cocky and took on this big guy named Mark. I was okay with a sword but he started to taunt me and started talking shit about my mother," Charlotte automatically started laughing, no one talks shit about Toni's mother without Toni beating them to a pulp.

"Needless to say, that gave me the burst of anger I needed and beat him down quicker than anyone has before. After that, my dad decided I was worthy enough to be claimed,"

"Thats really cool, I'm glad your dad is proud of who you are,"

"I'm sure your dad will be too, you're pretty frickin awesome Char,"

"Yeah," she said quietly. She wasn't so sure, I mean she was kind of the runt of litter at this camp. She'd seen some ten year olds who were stronger than she was.

"Maybe your dad is Ares too and we're secretly brother and sister," Toni said quickly, trying to reassure her.

"With these muscles? Please!" They laughed o hard that they couldn't breathe.

"Don't let it worry you too much Char, you'll have fun here no matter if you find out who your dad is or not," She smiled at him and gave him a little punch in the arm.

"So what are these camp activities I've been hearing about?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying the story so far (:<strong>

**I'd really appreciate some feedback, so I can keep improving and keep writing it so review away and tell me what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

Camp activities turned out to be a not-so-strong point for Charlotte.

Luke and the rest of the Hermes cabin made the rounds to every camp station over the next few weeks and she was average at best, deathly horrible at worst.

Some activities, like racing with the dryads, went well and she proved to be faster than most of the campers. She was never faster than the dryads though, who had centuries of practice running away from horny gods. The naiads were a different story though, and had taken to trying to tip her canoe over whenever they'd do races in the lake.

But things like the clashing rock wall turned out to be a disaster. On her first try, she made it up half way before the rocks began to close and Luke had to help her get out of the way. She finally made it to the top of the wall, in last place. Then, she managed to accidentally set part of the rock wall on fire with a torch of Greek fire when she lost her balance and started to fall. Then, she fell on a satyr. Needless to say, she tried to avoid the rock wall as best she could.

Swordfighting wasn't her strong suit either. She'd watch Toni and Luke battle it out, moving so quickly she couldn't tell what was going on sometimes. She tried her best, but the swords were just too heavy for her, and she couldn't pick one up without losing her balance.

"Time to do some push ups, girl, " Toni and Luke would laugh, unintentionally making her feel bad. She had pretty much given up on all of the activities, and finding out who her father was.

Oh, and she was given a swirly by the counselor of the Ares cabin, a meaty mean girl named Clarisse. Toni wasn't too happy when he heard about that, and told Clarisse he would skewer her is she ever touched Charlotte again. So yeah, not only was she a weakling who wasn't really good at anything, she also was dependent on her bigger friends to help her around. She was feeling pretty worthless.

"Aw don't worry too much Char, no one is great their first couple of tries," Toni said as they walked back to their cabins after dinner.

"But I _have_ tried a couple of times, it's been three weeks!" She said, her eyes tearing up with frustration.

"Come on, we'll go over to the Hephaestus cabin tomorrow for arts and crafts and made you a smaller sword. You'll work your way up in no time, you'll see!" She gave a little nod and walked off to cabin eleven, where she plopped down on her sleeping bag in the corner of the room.

She double-checked her bag to make sure that none of the Hermes kids took anything out of it, they were a bunch of little pick pockets. Not that she wasn't. She was kind of ashamed of her talent, but when she was younger she found out how easy it was for her to steal little things. Her mother caught her at it once when she was seven and grounded her for a week. After that, she became even more discreet about it, and only used her talent on the asshole shop owners on the boardwalk. There were quite a few nasty owners who would be rude to customers and would jack prices sky-high. Occasionally stealing a bracelet or or a scarf was her way of sticking it to the man. It was her little secret though, and she found a way to keep the Hermes kids from picking through her own stuff.

Feminine products.

Thats right, pads and tampons. Charlotte realized that most of the Hermes kids were guys, and the girls generally were polite enough to not steal anything from anyone. The unclaimed kids didn't bother her very much so she didn't have to worry about them. But the boys, being the immature little shits they were, were grossed out by the idea of cotton pads that absorbed blood. So naturally Charlotte put those on the top of her bag, and they acted as a barrier to keep people out. She was very proud of herself.

She had decided that now was a good time to take a shower, while everyone else was busy tidying up the cabin. Her spot was always clean and neat so she got to opt-out. She grabbed her towel and soap and made a beeline for the warmest shower in the camp.

She wasn't used to the whole showering-at-camp thing, and was often pushed out of the way and into the cold water. But she gradually learned the best times to bathe and where the warmest water was. She could feel that her body was more toned from working out all day and from eating a healthier diet than boardwalk food, and her skin had begun to tan. She was starting to look like the other campers, she just had to fit in in all the other ways too. She stepped out, dried off, and pulled her wet hair into a bun on the top of her head, redressed in clean clothes and made her way back to her cabin.

She walked slowly, enjoying the night air. She missed the beach back home during this time of night. The lights from the boardwalk would be on full blast and the smell of street food would fill your nose. The arcade played carnival music, and despite all of this the beach would be nearly empty. It was this time of night that her and Toni would sit in the lifeguard chair and eat taffy. It was this time of night that the sky would be strawberry pink. Well, it was pink here at Camp Half-Blood too but it wasn't the same. It smelled of campfire this time of night and instead of carnival music you would hear the Apollo cabin playing their instruments.

Speaking of the Apollo kids playing their instruments, a guy was sitting on the porch tuning his guitar. He started to strum the first few chords to a Beach Boys song and Charlotte stopped to listen. They were always playing that kind of music on the boardwalk, which she loved. It was so upbeat and happy. When he was done playing she clapped, and he noticed that she was listening.

"Hey I didn't see you there. You like the Beach Boys?" he said, blushing a little about having an audience.

"I grew up on a boardwalk, it was a felony to not like them," he laughed at that, giving her a little more confidence. "I'm Charlotte, I'm new here. Well, new-ish. I got here a few weeks ago,"

"I'm Sam, I'm not-so-new-ish," he smiled. He had a nice smile. "Come on up here and tell me all about your Camp Half-Blood experience, New Girl," she climbed up the porch steps of the golden cabin and sat next to Sam. When she was closer she could make out his features more. He looked to be about her age, was fairly tall, had blue eyes and was built like a son of Apollo. The similarities stopped there though, for while most of Apollo's kids were blondies, Sam was Asian-American. He mad messy black hair that Charlotte just wanted to tousle around.

"So New Girl, what cabin are you in?"

"The Hermes cabin, but im unclaimed," she pouted, "I wish my dad would hurry up and claim me though, It's so cramped in there and everyone is always so loud and energetic," Sam laughed a little.

"Yeah, it's always a party in there. Luke tries to keep them all in line though,"

"He's a nice guy," Charlotte agreed.

"So any idea of who your dad is?"

"Not in the slightest,"

"Well sometimes your talents make it a dead giveaway. Besides Luke, swordfighting is usually an Ares kind of thing,"

"Definitely not an Ares kid," she laughed, "I can't even pick up a sword,"

"Well what about archery then?"

"I was doing pretty well, until I accidentally shot Conner Stoll and pinned his tshirt to the wall,"

"Definitely not an Apollo kid then. Well, maybe if it wasn't an accident," He chuckled, "Well theres seven gods in Olympus, and since Zeus and Poseidon can't have kids, you've got five possibilities. Unless you're the child of a minor god like Aeolus or Asclepius,"

"Well whoever my dad is, he doesn't seem to care very much,"

"The Gods are tricky Charlotte, they like to wait until what they think is the right time. And that can take a while. Hades, my dad waited for like six months to claim me and then did it in the middle of a concert," That made her feel a little better.

"Well hopefully I'll do something worthy of him," She said while getting up, "I have to get back to my cabin now and claim my sleeping territory for the night, will I see you around?"

"Of course, and next time maybe i'll play you some more Beach Boys," he smiled.

"If I'm lucky," She teased, then she went back to her cabin where her peace and quiet time would be over.

* * *

><p><strong>So what'd you guys think? Poor Charlotte isn't really fitting in with all of these big strong demigods, but at least she's making some friends.<strong>

**Reviews would be super helpful for writing this, and I'd love to hear what you guys are thinking (:**


	6. Chapter 6

Sam and Charlotte did see each other again. In fact, they saw each other almost every day over the next week. He would help her with her shooting at the archery range and she would share her taffy stash with him at night when the two of them (and occasionally Toni) would hang out before bed. Toni was a pretty popular guy at camp, and why wouldn't he be? He had quite the growth spurt since Charlotte had seen him in January, and the god of puberty was paying a lot of attention to him. He had always been very funny and very kind, which helped him as well. Since he was so popular, he didn't have as much time for his old friend anymore. She minded, but not as much now that she had Sam.

This particular day, the pair was sitting by the canoeing lake, eating some strawberries from Dionysus' garden. Unlike the Stoll brothers, Charlotte was a little more insidious about sneaking the little fruits out of the garden and the pair ate them with glee.

"I can't believe they didn't see you," Sam laughed, "Dionysus is so anal about people touching his fruits,"

"Well being tiny has it's benefits," she said, trying to be modest. In reality she was very proud of what she had just achieved. She had always had a strange talent for sneaking around unseen, and was apparently better at it than the Hermes kids. She took a small bite of the strawberry and savored it's flavor. It wasn't exactly her mom's taffy but she had to ration the candies to last for the summer.

They watched the naiads try to swamp some camper's canoes during free time and when they'd manage to flip one over Sam would make Charlotte laugh by doing his best Celine Dion impression.

"Neeeear, faaaaaar, whereeeeeever you aaaare," he'd sing in a very high pitched voice, with so much vibrato that he could have started an earthquake. Charlotte would be laughing to hard that she'd have to catch her breath.

"Look! There!" She said in between giggling, "The two on top of the the sinking canoe," she pointed to a pair of campers in the lake trying to stay afloat in top of a tipped canoe.

"Don't let go Jack!" Sam yelled to the campers, making Charlotte laugh even harder. Anyone who could reference cheesy love movies was alright with her.

"Well look at these two love birds," A voice came from behind them. Their laughter stopped and Charlotte turned around to see a few campers from the Aphrodite cabin.

"Hey there Sam, how's my boy doing" Sam rolled his eyes at the girl and she winked at him.

"I am not your _boy_ Drew,"

"Yes you are hon, you're my Asian brother from another mother," Drew put on a rapper voice, making her siblings laugh.

"Just because we're like the only two Asian kids in this camp doesn't mean I have to like you,"

"Aw I'm hurt Sammy," Drew jutted out her lower lip cutely and pouted "I just thought you'd want better company than this little bean sprout,"

'Who was she calling a bean sprout?' Charlotte self-consciously brought up her legs to her chest. She was kind of lacking in the curves department. Usually her nickname was Twiggy but seeing that it eluded to a supermodel, Drew must have thought a crueler nickname was in order.

"Hey, that's uncalled for," Sam's brow furrowed "leave Charlotte alone, she hasn't done anything to you,"

"You're right, she hasn't. But that doesn't mean we can do something to her," Drew smirked, putting her hands on the hips of her designer blue jeans. "Maybe we can try to help her, Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty after all,"

Uh oh. She didn't like where this was going. She tried to hide herself behind Sam but before she could, a guy from the Aphrodite cabin who looked strangely like a Ken doll picked her up and hoisted her over his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down whatthehelldoyouthinkyouredoing?!" Charlotte screamed, thrashing against the guys hold.

"Drew, stop it!" Sam yelled, getting very angry.

"Aw but we're helping her, don't bean sprouts needs a little water to grow?"

'_Shiiiiiiiiiiiit_' Charlotte thought as the guy started walking down the hill to the water's edge.

"Here we go, on three! One-" Before the guy even got to three he threw her into the lake, clothes and all.

It took a few moments for her to come out of shock, the water was so cold it took the air out of her lungs. She opened her eyes in the murky water to see a rush of bubbles around her, and a few giggling naiads. It was a good thing she was used to the frozen waters of north-eastern beaches, or else she might have become a popsicle then and there. Swimming to the surface, she heard more voices laughing, coming from above the water. She popped her head up, taking a deep breath of air and saw the Aphrodite kids standing on the shore, absolutely howling at her, with a shocked Sam standing next to swam back to shore and pulled herself out of the water, standing in her very wet and very heavy clothes. It was only when she started to wring out her shirt when the Aphrodite kids stopped laughing enough for them to talk.

"Oh, I guess it didn't work," Drew said with false sympathy as her friends laughed around her. Sam's shock turned into fierce anger, he was fuming.

"What the hell is your problem?!" He yelled, barely keeping his temper.

"Me? I don't have a problem," She said, flipping her hair.

"Uh, yeah you do. You're a horrible person! You think you can push people around just because you're kind of pretty," Sam continued, making Drew's eye twitch a little bit. Charlotte worked up enough bravery to finally say something.

"Don't worry it's okay," She started, everyone turing to give her a look of surprise, "Sometimes you just need a little something to sweeten you up," Charlotte took a half-eaten strawberry off of the ground and smeared it onto Drew's designer pants, leaving the girl shrieking.

"You little- look what you did!" Drew shrieked at such a high pitch, Charlotte was afraid she'd be calling dogs. Sam stood with his mouth wide-open, trying not to start laughing.

"Oh, so sorry Drew. A little club soda will get it out, maybe," Charlotte said, giving the older girl a look she'd never forget. A look of don't-mess-with-me-or-theres-more-strawberries-where-that-came-from.

The older girl and the rest of her cabin stormed away, leaving a very shocked Sam, and an even more shocked Charlotte.

"Oh gods, I can't believe I just did that," she said, realizing what her burst of courage did.

"I can't believe it either," Sam laughed, "I've been waiting for someone to stand up to Drew for ages,"

"That was so mean I've never done anything like that before-"

"Relax, she deserved it" Sam started, picking a few wet leaves out of his friend's hair "I mean she did throw you in the lake and all,".

Charlotte calmed down a little after that, and the two were about to go off to find a towel when another Aphrodite girl confronted them. She was tall and had a mane of gorgeous golden blonde hair that tumbled down her back. Her skin was flawless and her eyes sparkled a brilliant blue. Charlotte had never seen someone pull of cut-off shorts so effortlessly before.

"Hey, I'm sorry for what my cabin mates did. They're just looking to blow off some steam because they can't go check out Fall Fashion Week this year" the girl said, handing Charlotte a towel.

"It's okay, it's not your fault," she said accepting the towel and starting to dry off.

"I'm Magdalena by the way. Don't worry, I'm not going to throw you in any lakes. I just wanted to apologize for my cabin. Not all of us are like that," the blonde said, smiling sincerely. Charlotte liked this girl.

"Well thats nice of you," Sam said, happy to be done with confrontations for the day.

"I'll tell Silena what happened, she's our counselor. She'll give them a warning and they'll back off," Charlotte almost floated away she was so happy. This girl was great! "Oh, and don't worry about the strawberry stain, the Aphrodite cabin has all sorts of stain removers, it'll come out in no time,".

"Thats great, I'll admit I was a little worried about permanently damaging them. Aren't those the ones that cost like three hundred dollars?" Charlotte recalled seeing the jeans in one of Loretta's Us Weekly issues.

"Two hundred and seventy nine dollars, but it doesn't matter," Magdalena said. "Anyways, I'll see you guys around!" she gave another smile and sashayed off to her cabin.

"That was probably the nicest thing I've ever seen an Aphrodite kid do," Sam noted.

"I think I have a girl crush on her," Charlotte laughed.

"They have that affect on you, they're all really hot. Some of them can do this thing called charmspeak where they can manipulate you into doing anything they want. Its kind of scary. Scarier still, the only one who can do it in camp right now is Drew," Sam shuddered at the thought.

"Now hit the showers Kingsley, you reek of lake water!" Charlotte threw her wet towel at her friend before she ran off to get clean.


	7. Chapter 7

Capture the Flag was a big event at Camp Half-Blood. It was where demigods could show off their strength and bravery. Obviously, Charlotte was dreading the event.

She was still pretty weak, though slowly getting better at her activities. She could scramble up the rock wall quicker, and she could shoot at an archery target without hitting anything else. She still couldn't lift a sword though, and made no attempt to try. Last time, she picked up the sword and the momentum not only made her fall over but also knocked Luke down as well. He said it was no big deal, but Charlotte could tell that he was a little shaken.

Toni had gone to the Hephaestus cabin with her for an arts and crafts session, and they made a blade that would cause more damage to enemies than herself.

"It's called a Kopis," he explained, showing her the celestial bronze metal "It's not as big as the straight swords, see? It's got a curve to it. And it's a single-edge instead of a double,"

The blade was maybe twenty inches in length and felt much lighter in her grip than the practice swords. The handle was made of a dark wood, maybe cherry? Toni took the blade out of her hand and showed her how to wield it. He backed up from Charlotte and took a few swings. She could hear the blade cut through the air. It was fast and agile, perfect for her. Toni handed it back and the two smiled.

"Thank you so much," she hugged her friend, "Maybe I'll have a chance in capture the flag now,"

"I don't know about that, the Ares cabin is pretty serious about it. We kind of decimate on a regular basis,"

"Well who's on your team?"

"The usual, the Hephaestus kids, Aphrodite's, Demeter's, and Dionysus'," Toni named off, "It sounds like a lot but your side has the Athena cabin, Apollo's, Hermes' and all of the unclaimed. The last two cabins have the most people in them so it evens out,"

Suddenly, a horn sounded from the Big House.

"Gotta go now! We're gonna start the game soon, see you on the field!" Toni said while running towards his cabin. Charlotte shuffled towards hers with her new weapon.

Everyone in the Hermes cabin was already lined up at the door. Charlotte got into her spot in the queue and they marched off towards the edge of the forest. Chiron was waiting there, along with a few other cabins. She spotted Sam in the crowd of Apollo kids and gave a little wave. He smiled and waved back. He was already in his armor, which looked terribly heavy. On his back was his bow and a quiver of arrows at his disposal.

Chiron called for the teams to organize themselves, the blue team on one side, the red team on another. Charlotte and Sam stepped towards the blue said while they watched Toni step to the red. The centaur called for everyone to suit up and put on their armor if they haven't already and to chose their weapon.

Charlotte found the smallest breast plate she could and struggled into it, then picked up a helmet with a blue fringe sticking upright. She set it on her head and instantly was overwhelmed. The armor was so heavy how could anyone accomplish anything? She held her Kopis close to her and waited for further instruction. Both team had a silk banner that would act as their flag, and they were supposed to hide it somewhere in the woods. Chiron gave a little speech about the rules. Basic things, where the boundaries were, no killing, no maiming, child's play.

The people in charge of her team were Luke and an Athena girl named Annabeth. They appeared to know each other quite well and were a good team. They started assigning everyone positions. The Apollo cabin was given the duty of border patrol because they could sit in the trees and shoot people away. The Athena cabin was split up, with half helping the border patrol and half working with Annabeth and Luke to go into red team territory. The same happened with the Hermes kids, with all of the unclaimed kids included within that group. Charlotte was given an important job according to Annabeth. Formally the title was border patrol but she knew that really meant that she was to just stand in the woods and try to stay out of the way. The troops moved out into the woods and into position, the games had begun.

She felt kind of stupid, all dressed up and no where to go. She slumped up against a tree and just watched the birds fly. She hadn't expected anyone to come her way. But, of course, someone did. Can't have nice things when you're a demigod.

"Look, it's our little beansprout. All lost and alone," Drew's voice came from behind her. Charlotte turned around to see the Asian girl standing with a few other members of the Aphrodite cabin, including Magdalena. "Maybe we should give her some company,"

"Oh just leave her alone Drew, she's not a threat," The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, I'm still mad about that strawberry," she didn't have any weapons on her, but Charlotte could feel that this would be more of a hold-my-earrings fight. She raised her blade, in an attempt to ward her off.

"Aw how cute, she has a little knife," Drew gave the Ken doll guy a look, and yet again, he advanced on Charlotte, "You won't be needing that hon,"

The guy was intimidating, and she tried her best to look tough, but she just couldn't swing the blade at him. It didn't feel right. Before she could give it a second thought, the guy ripped her kopis out of her hands and threw it into a tree so hard, half the blade was buried in the wood about ten feet from the ground.

'Shit' she thought.

The guy backed off, and Drew came forward instead, with a look of malice in her eyes. Charlotte really wasn't one for fighting, and really had no idea what to do in a situation like this. Try to reason with her? No that wouldn't work. Compliment her makeup? That wouldn't help. Tell her to stop being a bitch? No definitely not.

Drew took a strike at her and Charlotte dodged and ran to her left, girl in pursuit. She ran as fast as she could around the area, staying just close enough to her kopis, she really didn't want to lose her weapon in the woods before she could even use it. Drew was keeping up with her surprisingly, she must do a lot of cardio. With the girl gaining on her, she'd have to think of a plan and fast. One that didn't involve punching. Ahead she saw the glint of a giant spider web woven in between two trees. She ran straight for it, with Drew still following her.

"I can do this all day beansprout, this is just a little work out for me," Charlotte continued to run towards the web, and at the very last second, swerved to the right. Drew was not so quick however, and ran headfirst into the trap. An otherworldly wail was let out and she couldn't help but laugh as she watched the daughter of Aphrodite try to get the sticky web out of her hair. Her brothers and sisters rushed to help her, except for Magdalena who gave Charlotte a little thumbs up.

"No don't touch me!" Drew shrieked at her siblings, pushing them away. She turned to face her victim once more. "You've stained my best jeans, gotten spider web in my hair, you just really want to die don't you beansprout?"

Charlotte shook her head no and started running once more, Drew screaming behind her. She knew she was faster than this girl, she could out run her with no problem. But Drew was right, she couldn't run forever. She had to think of something to stop her. The spider web wasn't enough. As much as she didn't want to, she'd have to make contact if she wanted to end this. Her blade was useless though, it was stuck in a frickin tree, there was no way she could pull it out. And it was so high up.

Wait.

Charlotte swerved to the left, heading towards the tree where her kopis was stuck. She ran towards it as fast as she could, she could hear the wind whistle in her ears.

'Here goes nothing,' she thought, and she sprung off the ground with as much force as she could muster. She felt herself rise off the ground, almost as if she was flying. The hilt of the kopis was in her sight, she willed herself to be propelled towards it and miraculously it worked! She grabbed on with both hands and hoisted herself up, using the hilt as a place to stand.

Drew stood under her, shouting all kinds of rude curses in Greek. Charlotte just stood there and waited for the right moment.

"You little shit come down here right now and fight me!" The girl yelled, obviously angry at the younger girl having an advantage. "Right here, right now!"

Drew's mistake was when she looked over at her siblings to get some help. They started to make their way over when Charlotte got down from her post and used the hilt to swing her feet into Drew's back, knocking the girl over with enough force to make her completely lose her balance.

"Oof!" the impact was strong, but Drew was on the ground and that was all that mattered. Charlotte stood over the girl's body and looked down at her.

"We're done," was all she had to say to the girl.

The rest of the Aphrodite cabin stood around Drew's body, making sure she was okay. Once they determined that she was okay, they turned on the younger girl, looking very angry. Just as the Ken doll was about to attack, Magdalena stopped him.

"Hey, she won. It was a fight between her and Drew, not us. So lets leave her alone," she gave a little wink to Charlotte, and the Aphrodite kids back off just in time to have the rest of the blue team come storming down the hill top, holding the red team's banner.

"We won we won!" Sam shouted "Charlotte we won!" he stopped when he saw the Aphrodite kids gathered around Drew's spider web-covered body. "What happened here,"

"This little bad ass just kicked Drew's butt," Magdalena announced, pushing Charlotte forward for the blue team to see. She gave a little wave and suddenly there was a collective gasp.

Magdalena let go of her, accidentally dropping her to the ground. Charlotte looked around at all the faces staring at her, and realized that they were looking at something above her head. She took off her helmet and looked up to see a glowing caduceus above her. Chiron joined the group, took one look at the girl and announced.

"Hail Charlotte Kingsley, daughter of Hermes,"

The Hermes cabin erupted in cheers, Luke and the Stoll brothers coming forward to pick her up over their shoulders. They carried her out of the woods, chanting 'one of us, one of us!' the whole time. She was seriously confused as to what was going on. Was she just claimed? The boys put her down on a picnic bench and the rest of her team went odd to celebrate their victory over the red team. Sam though broke away from the group and sat down next to Charlotte, her kopis in his hands.

"Hey you, look who got claimed!" she said, mussing her hair. Why did everyone do that to her?

"You know who you dad is now! Good ol' Hermes. He's a great guy. I should have known with the way you run around, Magdalena told me all about your epic battle and those are some serious skills. I would have never thought to use my weapon like that! Here it is by the way, Toni pulled it out for you," The more Sam talked the more it started to set in what had happened.

'I'm a daughter of Hermes. Hermes, the messenger god, is my father. I know who my father is now,' It was a moment of sudden euphoria, the mystery was solved and she knew who her father was! She had a place where she belonged. Was was no longer unclaimed and could move out of the cabin-

Her smile disappeared and she dropped her head on the table groaning.

"Char, are you okay? Do you need me to get Chiron?" Sam asked.

"I'm stuck in the same cabin!" she cried.


End file.
